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A move is underway to give New Zealand's two main islands
official Maori names as well as to formalise the currently used
names North and South.

The New Zealand Geographic Board says it's time to sort out the
names for each island after it was discovered no formal names were
ever given to the two chunks of land despite more than 200 years of
common usage of those names.

Since discovering the lack of formality in the names, the board
will be consulting with the public and iwi on what each island
should officially be called.

The board will be writing to iwi throughout the country in the
coming weeks to seek the known traditional Maori names for both
islands, Chairman Don Grant says.

It expects to be able to publicly consult with all New
Zealanders on the names in 2010, he says.

"We have a proposal to change the name of the South Island and
the Board decided it would not remove the name South Island but it
also recognises the Maori names are a part of our history and
therefore be available for all New Zealanders to use as an
alternative," says Grant.

For several years the board had been investigating Maori names
for the islands and exploring a process for formally recognising
alternative Maori names for each island, Grant says.

"Interestingly, while researching this issue, we noted that
'North Island' and 'South Island' are actually not official names
under our legislation, despite their common long-term usage," Grant
says.

"We therefore want to formalise alternative Maori names and, at
the same time, make the naming of the North and South Islands'
official."

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Alternative naming means that either the English names (North
Island and South Island), or the Maori names could be used
individually or together, he says.

This differs from dual naming where both names are used together
in official documents, such as maps, he says.

The alternative names will allow the board to recognise the
historical and cultural importance of traditional Maori names,
while still retaining the long-term and commonly used English
names, Grant says.

The Maori names
Te Ika a Maui for the North
Island and
Te Wai Pounamu for the South
Island appeared on early official maps and documents.

The board's research also showed that Maori names for the
islands appeared on the very earliest maps and charts, including
those of Captain Cook.

"This is part of our country's history of European exploration
and the settlement of New Zealand.

"It was only from the 1950s that Maori names of the two main
islands stopped appearing on official maps," Grant says.

The existence of several known recorded Maori names for each
island means a lot more work is still to be done to establish the
most appropriate names, he says.

Outspoken Maori Party MP Hone Harawira agrees that history needs
to be corrected on the names, saying its time for a change.

"Its time to drop the North Island, South Island. Those names
don't have any connotation except these people are too dumb to work
it out themselves".

Even though saying the new names could be a mouthful for the
average Kiwi, it should be official sometime next year.